why does xp go online by itself? Is there a "history" of a dial-up?

[mandpaul]

Hello,
I have Windows XP. I am still on dial-up for internet (can't afford anything else at this time!). Sometimes, randomly as far as I have been able to figure out, my computer dials, and goes online by itself. Of course, I don't know about the dialing until I happen to look at computer, and it is online. I do not remember ever setting a program to go on automatically. I have checked my Spybot, AdWare, and AVG virus. And, none of those are set for automatic. So, I am wondering if there is a way to find out what program dialed for internet. If I can find some "history" of the dial-up, that would help. Do you know of anywhere I can find some history? Thank you!

 

[Peddant]

Two things I`d try -

1.In internet explorer,go to Tools/Internet options/Connections and check the "Never dial a connection" option.

2.Check your firewall logs.They should tell who the guilty party was.
You could even set it to warn/ask you when any program tries to access the internet.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

As far as I remember, the modem log is in the Windows directory, a textfile, can't remember the name though.

 

[mandpaul]

Hello,
I went to the Modem log. I guess that I am having a difficult time reading the log. How do I know what made the connection? My time starts at 21:10:35. Is this my time, or GMT? Also, can I get to the log before this one? Thank you so much for helping me with this!
Maggie

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Here is some information about the modem log. Among other things, it says that not all applications log things there.

The time is your computer time. There are no previous logs, everything is in that file.

 

[mandpaul]

I looked at the link you provided. It does help. Thank you! I looked at the log again, and, of course, last night is no longer on there. So, I will wait until it connects on it's own again, and then check the log. Hopefully I will be able to find out which program is activating the modem!
I had another thought. Could it be that someone is trying to hack into my system, and so they are using my system for their work? I have dial-up, so didn't think this could happen. But, thought I'd ask.
Thank you so much! Maggie

 

[Peddant]

Could it be that someone is trying to hack into my system, and so they are using my system for their work?

It`s possible that you have a trojan/spyware on your system that is trying to "phone home".,dial-up is by no means immune to trojans,but that is not the most likely cause,IMHO.

It`s probably a legit program trying to update itself,or possibly your email client ? Maybe even the "dreaded" "Generic Host Processes for Win32 Services" ?

Do you have Windows automatic updates enabled ?

 

[mandpaul]

I do have windows updates enabled, but just to tell me when updates are available. It does not download or install unless I tell it to. As far as I can tell, I have always been told of updates when I (personally) get online.